House Republicans are pushing the Trump administration to take a hard look at the Obama administration’s release last year of several Iranian prisoners as well as a reported decision to abandon the pursuit of Iranian fugitives – even suggesting some cases be re-opened.

The calls follow an extensive report by Politico earlier this week on the Iran dealings.

The article said some of the prisoners released as part of a January 2016 prisoner swap with Iran had actually been “accused by Obama’s own Justice Department of posing threats to national security.” At the time of their release, the prisoners were described by then-President Barack Obama as “civilians,” and their release was framed as a “reciprocal humanitarian gesture” in exchange for the return of several American prisoners held by Iran.

In addition, the administration reportedly dropped charges against more than a dozen fugitives suspected of aiding Iran’s nuclear and military weapons programs. Politico also suggested that “Justice and State Department officials denied or delayed requests from prosecutors and agents to lure some key Iranian fugitives to friendly countries so that they could be arrested.”

The revelations are now inspiring calls from lawmakers to review some of the cases abandoned by the previous administration.

In a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., and Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., said the new details prove “the Obama Administration appears to have done serious damage to our national security.”

In light of the claims, Royce recommended the Trump administration “revive law enforcement efforts unwisely abandoned by the Obama Administration to target individuals assisting Iran in its pursuit of its nuclear and missile programs.” Royce says this includes the possibility of re-opening cases that had reportedly been hindered, and “an administration-wide policy directive to encourage investigations of Iranian commodity trafficking efforts that includes a determined extradition process.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., declared on Twitter that it has become clearer than ever that “President Obama’s Iran deal has been an unmitigated disaster.”

“This fits a larger pattern where the Obama Administration consistently downplayed the Iranian threat in order to get a deal done at any cost,” McCarthy added in a statement.

Politico’s reporting, and the sentiments from both McCarthy and Royce, seem to be supported by an expert who testified before Royce’s committee earlier this month.

Dr. David Albright, president of the Institute for Science & International Security, testified earlier this month that “during the [Iran Deal] negotiations and for some time afterwards, the [Obama] administration blocked or did not process several extradition requests and lure memos aimed at arresting and convicting Iranians and their agents engaged in breaking U.S. export and sanctions laws.”

According to Albright, the blocking or delaying of requests also “served to discourage new or on-going federal investigations of commodity trafficking involving Iran.”

The reason for all of this, according to Albright, was a “misplaced fear that Iran would walk away from the [nuclear] deal.”

The White House has drafted a notice that would signal the United States’ intent to withdraw from NAFTA, Fox News has learned — a precautionary move made as the administration considers whether to leave the trade pact.

The notification has not been submitted to Mexico or Canada, and it’s possible the White House might not ever submit it.

But it has been prepared in case it is needed. Under the NAFTA terms, any party may withdraw “six months after it provides written notice of withdrawal to the other Parties.”

Earlier this week, the Trump administration levied a tariff on imports of softwood lumber from Canada amid a broader trade dispute.

Trump has been consistent in his attack on the North American Free Trade Agreement. During the campaign season he frequently criticized it and called it the “single worst trade deal ever approved in this country.”

Three days after his inauguration in January, reports surfaced that the president was looking to renegotiate NAFTA. No formal announcements have since been made — though Trump signed an order to pull the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

Last week, Trump upped his rhetoric over Canada’s trade policies, calling its dairy protections “unfair.” He has at various times vowed to pull out of the U.S., Mexico and Canada trade pact if he cannot negotiate better terms for the United States.

But many are now pointing back to the 44th president’s harsh criticism of the financial industry, including calling Wall Street bankers “fat cats.”

Fox Business Network’s Charlie Gasparino broke the story, reporting that Obama’s speaking fee will be $400,000, nearly twice as much as Hillary Clinton received for similar appearances.

Gasparino said Obama has agreed to be the keynote speaker on health care at an event in September.

A spokesman for the former president didn’t return a call for comment; a spokeswoman for Cantor said the firm is not in a position to comment just yet, but would not deny that Obama has agreed to speak to the firm and at the $400,000 fee, he reported.

On “Fox & Friends,” Kristin Tate, author of “Government Gone Wild,” said the speech would be the “height of hypocrisy” after his harsh criticism of Wall Street.

“It’s all about personal gain for Obama,” she said, adding it’s not surprising for a politician to “cash out” after they’re out of office.

“But Democrats end up looking more hypocritical than Republicans because it’s the Democrats who constantly rail against greedy, rich bankers and rich business people,” said Tate.

On “Your World,” Gasparino and Neil Cavuto both questioned why the mainstream media isn’t focusing on this story.

Cavuto held up copies of the New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today, noting there was no story in any of the publications following Gasparino’s report the day before.

Watch the segments above.

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In a surprise videotaped talk to a TED conference in Vancouver, Pope Francis on Wednesday warned those with power to act in a humble fashion or risk potential loss.

The talk, delivered via videotape and focused on “The Future You,” was the first one ever by a pope.

“Please allow me to say it loud and clear: The more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more you are called to be humble,” Francis stated. “If you don’t, your power will ruin you, and you will ruin others.”

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Francis said that as he’s gotten older he’s become more and more convinced that “none of us is an island.” Accordingly, he argued for increased unity in the scientific, economic and political arenas.

“How wonderful would it be, while we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters orbiting around us,” the Pope said. “How wonderful would it be if solidarity — this beautiful and sometimes inconvenient word — were not simply reduced to social work and became instead the default attitude in political, economic and scientific choices.”

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a media organization that publishes talks online for free distribution in an effort to spark conversation and ideas.

Francis’ involvement marked a new change for the Vatican’s communication channels, which have increasingly attempted to spread the pope’s words through social media and nontraditional media sources.

Madonna has made it clear that she isn’t a fan of a planned biopic that will focus on her pre-fame life.

Universal recently acquired the rights to “Blond Ambition,” a script about the singer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Brett Ratner is expected to produce the film, which centers on her struggles in New York while making her first album.

On Tuesday, Madonna took to Instagram to express her displeasure. She said that only she was qualified to tell her story and “anyone else who tries is a charlatan and a fool.”

She likened it to “instant gratification” without doing the work and called it a disease of our society.

Two Afghan migrants who raped a woman for three hours while their mate filmed it on Facebook Live have been jailed for just two years.

The three were arrested after cops stormed the room from which the vile attack was being broadcast live to a closed Facebook group with 60,000 members.

Horrified members had alerted cops after seeing the woman who was “close to unconscious” being assaulted in the town of Uppsala northwest of Stockholm on January 22.

The film was removed from Facebook but not before it had been circulated on the internet.

Today a Swedish court sentenced Reza Mohammed Ahmadi, 21, to two years and four months in prison for rape and accessory to rape, while Maysam Afshar, 18, was sentenced to one year in prison for rape – a reduced sentence due to his age.

Both are Afghan citizens who have been granted residency in Sweden.

Emil Khodagholi, a 21-year-old Swedish citizen, was sentenced to six months in prison for posting the recording to Facebook.

Nicole Curtis, the star of “Rehab Addict,” was pregnant with her second child while filming the show, but she opted to hide her burgeoning baby belly from the cameras. Curtis has stated she covered her stomach with objects and didn’t want the public to find out she was expecting because she wanted her second child to have a more private life than her older son, who is featured on her show. “Having my newborn child’s face plastered all over social media on a Facebook post where someone could cut and paste it and make it a meme, that wasn’t for me,” she told People.

A young British TV actress and new mom had no patience for an Internet troll who recently body-shamed her on Instagram.

Stephanie Davis, who gave birth three months ago, fired back at the user @maldivitis, who commented on one of the new mom’s photos with a rude remark.

“She has some bad stretchmarks though,” @maldivitis wrote, amid a flurry of other commenters who complimented Davis’ photo, in which she’s pictured in a skimpy red dress and a fresh metallic manicure.

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Davis, whose name frequently appears in British tabloids, fired back with a stinging comment, asserting her right to flaunt a changed body after nine months of carrying her son, Caben Albi George, whom she gave birth to in January.

“yes I have stretch marks because I carried a baby for nine months, and fed him and got him strong though (sic) feeding off my breasts…” the 24-year-old actress wrote in part. “I love my stretch marks Thankyou. Pretty shallow of you when I’ve had a baby 3 months ago to comment on my boobs, but take it as a compliment because you were clearly looking at my lady lumps.”

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Davis’ supporters came to her rescue in the subsequent comments, insisting the actress is beautiful and to brush off the negative comments.

“@stephaniedavis88 you are looking fantastic and love that you breastfeed you should be very proud as it was the hardest thing i done. Great to be perfect,” one commenter wrote.

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Another took direct aim at the negative commenter, calling him or her out and encouraging Davis to ignore the remark.

“@maldivitis pathetic individual you must be perfect to have the confidence to comment on a woman who has given carried around a living human being for 9 months and produced a perfect little,” another commenter wrote. “@stephaniedavis88 you look amazing 😉 ignore the sad and jealous haters x”